Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 September 2013
274. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the total number of medical cards currently in circulation; the extent to which these numbers have fluctuated over the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40309/13]
View answerAt 1st September 2013, 1,987,423 people have free access to GP services under the GMS Scheme which equates to over 43% of the national population. Of these, 1,863,062 people hold medical cards, 53,888 of which are discretionary. This equates to 40.5% of the national population.
Medical cards statistics over the previous five years are outlined below.
|
Date |
No. of Medical Cards |
No. of Medical Cards as % of Population |
|
End 2008 |
1,352,120 |
31% |
|
End 2009 |
1,478,560 |
33% |
|
End 2010 |
1,615,809 |
36% |
|
End 2011 |
1,694,063 |
37% |
|
End 2012 |
1,853,877 |
40% |
